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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.

Positive Messages

Typically for soap opera characters, manipulation and deceit are the name of the game. Sends the message that revenge is sweet -- until it goes awry.

Violence

Sex

Sexual innuendo, heavy flirting, and kissing. Some skimpy outfits.

Language

"Son of a bitch," "hell," etc.

Consumerism

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Social drinking.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that one of the main characters in this intentionally melodramatic nighttime soap opera is a mother of two grown sons who recruits them to help her get revenge on the man who left her 25 years earlier. Her goal? Oh, just to demolish his business and family until he's left with nothing. Needless to say, this show is hardly about family values ... but fans of this kind of series wouldn't have it any other way.

What's the story?

Following the telenovela format popular on Spanish-language TV channels (in which shows run every night for several weeks and are then done), nighttime soap WICKED WICKED GAMES tells the story of a woman who hatches an elaborate plan to seek revenge on the man who dumped her 25 years ago. Tatum O'Neal stars as Blythe Hunter, who's dead-set on destroying her ex-husband, Theodore Crawford (Clive Robertson), who abandoned her and their two sons for another woman more than two decades earlier. David Smith and Jack Krizmanich play Blythe's sons, Josh and Aaron. At Blythe's request, Josh and Aaron set out to marry Crawford's beautiful daughters, Brooke and Emma (Kate French and Jessie Ward), while simultaneously ruining his successful race track business.

Is it any good?

Because of its 8 p.m. time slot, Wicked Wicked Games lacks some of the overtly sexual scenes found in other telenovelas. But it definitely has its share of innuendo, most notably between the nubile young Crawford women and their dashing suitors. In one scene, for example, Brooke, coyly refusing to kiss Josh, takes an ice cube from her drink and runs it down his neck when he complains of overheating.

Soap opera fans will like Wicked Wicked Games -- particularly the show's production standards, which are higher than its daytime cousins'. Yes, it's trite and tacky at times, but it's nothing most teens haven't seen before. It's just too bad the younger characters aren't better role models.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about revenge. Is getting revenge ever a good idea? What makes people do nasty things in retaliation for what they see as a wrong? Families can also talk about the telenovela format in general. How is this show similar to and different from the hugely popular Spanish telenovelas? How are telenovelas different than "regular" soap operas?

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